Riddle Me This
by Mizz Nikki
Summary: After the unexplainable disappearance of Carlos, the boys begin to frantically search for him. But riddles only have begun to show; literally, as the kidnapper leaves riddles for the band members to follow. Who is this riddler? NO SLASH!
1. A Veiled Shadow

**Riddle Me This**

**Character(s)/Pairing(s): **This story is mostly focused around Kendall, James, and Logan but Carlos is the story too. This story isn't focused around romance but it will have Kenjo, Jannie (James/Annie), a bit of Carlos/OC and Logan/OC

**Warning:** This story is rated T for violence and language. Expect tons of Carlos whumpage. I have FCMD and poor Carlos has the misfortune of being my favorite character.

**Rating:** T

**Genres:** Friendship/Angst

**Summary:** After the unexplainable disappearance of Carlos, the boys begin to frantically search for him. But riddles only have begun to show; literally, as the kidnapper leaves riddles for the band members to follow. Who is this riddler? NO SLASH!

**Disclaimer:** No matter how many temper-tantrums I may throw in front of Scott Fellows, I don't own anything.

_(Authors Note: This is my first Big Time Rush story ever. I'm really excited for it too. I so love this idea. It was a idea my cousin had given to me. _

_I'm introducing two new characters in this story: Jessica Edwards and Laura Shah. Jessica is mine and Laura belongs to a very good friend of mine, Karen. Thanks for all your help Karen :D If you know what's good for you, go and read her stories. She's a great author and she deserves more reviews then she has actually gotten. She's awesome. _

_I'd also really like to thank EarthBolt-Infinite for all the help he's given me with this story. Bolt, you're the best. I don't know what I'd do without you. Thank you _so so_ much.  
Well, that's all I have to say so I hope you all enjoy the story. Please leave a review and let me know what you think.)_

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Chapter One_  
A Veiled Shadow_

It was definitely a beautiful day outside in Los Angeles, California. Sun shining, clear skies and a mild to warm temperature range. Quite the perfect day for being outside, one would say.

However, the members of a certain band from Minnesota were not to be outside, as they might wish. For they were in the studio with their boss, Gustavo Rocque and his assistant, Kelly Wainwright, rehearsing one of their newer songs that will be on their upcoming album.

The boys had been working on the song for a couple of days now and all of them really liked it, mostly because they all had equal amount of lyrics to sing, unlike some of their previous songs.

The song was upbeat, like most of the Big Time Rush songs were. Kendall started, singing the first verse. James sung the pre-chorus and all four sung the chorus together, their voices harmonizing beautifully together. Logan sang the second verse, then it went to Carlos, then back to the chorus, which everyone sang, Carlos sang the bridge, back to the chorus before the song ended.

The music came to a halt once the boys stopped singing and they all looked over at their boss. Behind him, Kelly was smiling but to their dismay, Gustavo seemed displeased. "And that's a wrap boys."

"So, Gustavo, it sounded great, right?" Kendall asked, taking his headphones off and placed them on top of his microphone.

The boys noticed Kelly smiling at them while she gave them a thumbs up before they looked over at Gustavo, eagerly awaiting his response. "No!" Gustavo said, which caused the four teens to look at him while the same thought crossed of their minds, _what the heck? _"The Glee cast sounds great, you guys only make me want to choke you."

"Gustavo, come on!" The boys shouted all at one. Carlos, James, and Logan took their headphones off as well and placed them on their microphones, much like Kendall had done earlier, before they turned their attention to Gustavo and all four of them started to argue with him with their own retorts from inside the booth.

Gustavo turned the speakers from inside the booth off, blocking the voices of the four angry teens out. "What?" He said, trying to hold back laughter. "I can't hear you!"

Kelly angrily slapped Gustavo on his arm, which caused him to turn around. "Gustavo, that was their best performances yet. For once, can you tell them that they sound great?"

"Look, Kelly; how about we leave the proper and precise criticism to me, and you can stand behind me and offer praise which doesn't matter nor is true as much as you like. OK?" Gustavo replied, which caused Kelly to roll her eyes. _Would it kill him to be nice to these boys for a change? _

Still inside the booth, Kendall rolled his eyes at the arguing Gustavo and Kelly before he spoke to the others, "Come on, you guys, let's not give Gustavo the opportunity to pester us further. We did great, I hope everyone realizes that. So let's get out of here." With that, the four made their way to the exit of the booth.

Gustavo rose from his chair when he heard the sound of the door of the recording booth closing, followed by Kelly. They both looked at the four teens. "You guys are done for the day," he told the boys.

"Yes!" The boys exclaimed all at the same time.

"Kelly and I have some work to attend to now." Gustavo said, catching the boys attention, "and I have a few changes to make to the song as well."

_Yes, I knew he was gonna let us go early!_ Carlos excitedly thought to himself, looking over at the wall behind where Gustavo and Kelly stood. There was a clock hanging on the wall displaying a time of twelve-thirty in the afternoon. Being the outgoing one of the four, he could tell there was plenty of time for him to enjoy himself for the remainder of the day.

"But dogs," Gustavo's voice broke Carlos out of his thoughts. All four of the teens looks over at him. "Be back at the studio at exactly seven thirty sharp tomorrow morning. If you're late, I'll have your heads. Griffin wants this song finished by next week."

"We'll be here, Gustavo," Kendall said and turned to look at his friends, who gave him a nod in agreement. "Have we ever let you down before?"

"There's a first time for everything," Gustavo replied, causing the four teens to roll their eyes yet again. "JUST BE HERE!"

"We will, Gustavo!" They all shouted before they left Rocque Records quite happily to head back to the Palm Woods.

The four best friends walked back to the Palm Woods while talking about what they wanted to do for the remainder of the day; all of them clearly excited about getting the rest of the day off to do whatever they wanted. They can't even remember the last time Gustavo let them go early.

"I'm gonna take Jo to that carnival that just opened up earlier in the week tonight," Kendall told James, Carlos, and Logan. He smiled at the thought of his girlfriend, Jo Taylor. "I know she's probably on set now though. Hey, are you guys planning to go to the carnival too?" Kendall asked, curious to know if his friends were going to go as well.

Carlos quickly nodded. "Yeah, I'm going," he replied, "Jess and I are going tonight as well. If I don't go with her, I'd never hear the end of it. She's been bothering me all week to take her so we'll be there tonight."

He was referring to his girlfriend, Jessica Edwards, who had moved to the Palm Woods about six months ago. She was an aspiring actress and had landed a lead role in the CW show, New Town High, alongside Jo. Due to the fact that they were co-stars, Jo and Jessica became great friends and they always spent time together. Shortly after she arrived at the Palm Woods, she became great friends with the guys and even developed a crush on Carlos, who reciprocated her feelings. Shortly afterward, Carlos had asked her out on a date and they had been been dating ever since. To the impressive physical appearance as well, she had brown hair that reached just below her shoulder, fair skin, and green eyes to match her complexion perfectly.

So, I don't have a choice now. I have to go," Carlos said. "Not that I mind though, carnivals are a lot of fun." Carlos paused for a second, grinning, and looked at his friends before he continued, "Well, there's still a couple of hours left until the carnival and it's a beautiful day out and I'm not about to let it go to waste. I'll see you guys later. Adios!"

With that, Carlos slapped his helmet twice before he took off. Kendall, James, and Logan all waved at their friend and smiled to themselves at the energy shown by the Latino as he made his way into the Palm Woods park. Once Carlos had disappeared from their view, the boys continued to make their way back home while chatting amongst themselves.

**...**

The time was ten thirty by the time the carnival closed and everyone left to go back home.

Now Logan found himself walking back to the Palm Woods with his girlfriend, Laura Shah, down some of the streets that led to the palm woods. Their hands were entwined as they walked, with nothing around to interrupt their time together. It was a relatively peaceful day, and Logan and Laura both were very much enjoying it.

Laura had moved to the Palm Woods around the same time as Jessica, Carlos' girlfriend when she had landed a lead role in the Fox hit TV Show, Catalina, at the age of fifteen. She had become great friends with Jo, Annie, James' girlfriend, and Jessica. Like Logan, she was also a singer. She had recorded several songs for the Catalina soundtrack and was currently recording more. She has straight black hair, that reached just below her shoulders, brown eyes, and tanned skin.

"So Laura," Logan began, catching Laura's attention. "Did you have a good time tonight?"

Laura nodded and laid her head on Logan's shoulder. "Yep, I had a great time, Logan."

"Anytime, Laura." Logan said, leaning his head against Laura's, which was still resting on his shoulder. "So, how was your day?"

Laura smiled, "I had a good day." she said and removed her head from Logan's shoulder. "I had to record another song for the Catalina soundtrack and they kept me at the studio today till around four, just recording. I thought I'd never leave."

Logan turned his head to look at his girlfriend, "I know the feeling." he said and chuckled a bit. "Gustavo tends to like to keep us later then usual. Luckily, he let us go early today. He and Kelly had some work to attend to."

When Logan looked up, he noticed a tall familiar building in front of the two of them: the Palm Woods. He didn't plan for them to arrive back at their home so fast and he sighed, slinging his arm around Laura's shoulder, who wrapped her arm around his waist. He would have loved to spend a little more time with Laura. But he also remember it was ten thirty at night and he had to be back at Rocque Records early the next morning. Laura also had to be on set quite early the next morning too so they couldn't stay out too late.

"You know," Laura began, looking at her boyfriend as they came through the front doors of the Palm Woods. "It's a real shame that neither Carlos or Jess showed up at the carnival tonight. I can't help but wonder why either." Logan nodded in agreement. "Jess was really looking forward to going."

"Carlos was too." Logan said, "when we left the studio today, he said he was going tonight no matter what. I kind of wonder why he didn't show up tonight." He looked over at his girlfriend and saw her quickly nod. "Hey for all we know, they might have been there and we didn't see them. Carlos did say he was going, no matter what."

"Yeah, you're right," Laura said and smiled.

Logan turned his head to look at Laura. "If I see Carlos at the apartment when I get back, I'll be sure to ask him whether they were there tonight or not. I'll ask Kendall and James if they saw him there too."

Logan's words made Laura smile as the two of them entered the elevator. Logan quickly pushed the button with the number three on it since Laura lived on the third floor with her older brother, Daniel, and her younger sister, Alice, since neither of her parents are in the picture. Laura's mother died from Breast Cancer when she was fourteen and her father had abandoned them when her mother was eight months pregnant with Alice.

After a few minutes of waiting in the elevator, the couple arrived on the third floor and before Logan knew it, they were standing in front of Laura's door. Laura turned and stood in front of Logan, taking both of his hands in hers. "Well, thanks for tonight, Logan. I had a great time tonight." She gave Logan a quick peck on the cheek.

"Me too, Laura." Logan said, unable to hide his smile. "And I guess I'll see you tomorrow after I get home from the studio. We can go see a movie, if you want to."

Laura nodded, "sounds great. I've been dying to see No Strings Attached."

A brief smile appeared on Logan's face. "OK, then. See ya tomorrow then." They shared a quick kiss before Logan slowly pulled away. "Goodnight, Laura. I love you."

"I love you too, Logan. Goodnight, see ya tomorrow," was the last thing Laura said before she entered her apartment. Logan watched until she closed the door and then he left to go to the apartment he lived in with his friends, Katie, Kendall's sister, and Kathy Knight, Kendall's mother.

It was a quiet short back to the apartment to apartment 2J and the whole time, Logan kept thinking of Laura. He hasn't exactly known her for very long, only a couple of months but he was fully convinced she was the one for him. They had so much in common; Laura was different from a lot of the girls that lived in the Palm Woods. She was a very kindhearted and down to earth girl. They have something special and he knows Laura feels the exact same way as he does.

Both Kendall and James were sitting in the living room when he walked in the apartment. Both of them stood when they heard the door open. "Hey guys," Logan greeted them, closing the door behind him. "You just get home now too?"

Kendall put a finger to his lips, indicating his two friends to keep their voices down. "Yep, we only got back a couple of minutes before you did."

"Oh," Logan said and looked at each of his friends then asked, "you guys didn't happen to see Carlos and Jess at the carnival, did you?" He closed his eyes when Kendall and James both shook their heads. _Typical Carlos_, Logan thought with a chuckle. _Why doesn't this surprise me?_

Logan snapped himself back to reality when Kendall began to speak, "Nope, Jo and I didn't see either of them tonight."

"Neither did Annie and I," James replied.

"It's weird," Kendall offered. "Carlos said he was definitely going tonight with Jess. I kind of wonder why. It's not like Carlos to miss it when he clearly said he was going."

James nodded, "Kendall's right."

"Come on guys," Logan responded. "This is Carlos we're talking about. You know how he is. He probably just lost track of time when he was out and it was too late to come."

Kendall and James both looked at each other then back at it. "Good point," they both replied together.

Logan couldn't help but laugh. "Plus, for all we know, Carlos and Jess could have shown up at the carnival and we just didn't see them. That place was huge, was it not?" He asked his friends, who both nodded in agreement. _Wouldn't be the first time something like that happened. _

"You're right, Logie," Kendall said.

"Of course I am," Logan said with a smirk, causing Kendall and James to laugh. He couldn't help but laugh along with them, "I am a genius after all."

"Well, guys," Kendall began, catching James' and Logan's attention. "It's kind of late now and we have to be at the studio early. We might as well go to bed now." Both Logan and James nodded in agreement. "We don't want to be late tomorrow, Gustavo will kill us."

"I was just about to say that," Logan said with a laugh. "Goodnight guys." He waved once at his friends as he walked down the hallway, where his bedroom was.

"Goodnight Logan," James and Kendall both said as they headed for their own bedrooms.

Logan looked over at the side of the hallway, where Carlos' bedroom was. The door was shut. _He must asleep now_, Logan thought as he walked by into the bathroom to brush his teeth before going to bed himself. _I'll have to ask him tomorrow morning. _

After Logan had finished in the bathroom, he proceeded to go to his bedroom. As he changed into his pajamas and climbed into his bed, he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right and whatever it was, it concerned Carlos. No matter how hard he tried to assure himself that there's nothing wrong, it just wouldn't go away. _It's probably nothing_, he attempted to reassure himself as he reached over his nightstand and turned off his light.

A single and lone thought crossed Logan as he drifted off to sleep, _I'm just being paranoid; Carlos is fine._

* * *

**A/n: Well, that's the end of the first chapter.** **I know its kinda short so bear with me. The chapters will get longer as I get further into the story.**** I hope you all enjoyed it though.**

**Kendall: I know I did.**

**James: Me too. **

**Logan:**** *to James* You're only saying that cause she made you look good in the story.**

**James: Oh please, she doesn't have to try to make me look good cause I already do.**

**Kendall,Carlos,&Logan: *shakes heads***

**Carlos: I wanna know what happened to me. **

**Me: Don't worry, you'll find out soon. I'm ending the chapter here. Please leave a review and let me if this story is good. I would really appreciate that.  
**


	2. Missing Link

**A/N: I'm so so sorry about the delay with this chapter. I just wanna say thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the first chapter. Thanks guys. I really do appreciate it. If it wasn't for you guys, I wouldn't be updating right now. You guys are the best.**

**James: Boy, Nicole, you look awful.**

**Me: *glares at him* Thanks James. That's _soo_ nice of you to say.**

**James: Well you do.**

**Me: Well, excuse me for going to school every morning. I'm not a morning person.**

**Kendall: *underneath his breath* We can see that.**

**Me: *glares at him* You know, I'm gonna start the chapter before you guys really make me angry and I end up doing something I regret.**

**Carlos: Can I do it? Please?**

**Me: Okay.**

**Carlos: Nicole doesn't own us so no suing is needed. This story is a work of fiction so no money will be made from this whatsoever. Unauthorized reproduction is not allowed either**

**Kendall: Aka do not saving this to your computer/hard drive.**

**Me: No on with the story.**

* * *

Chapter 2  
_Missing Link_

Kendall groaned as the harsh beeping noise of his alarm clock sounded, which had woken him up from his sleep. _Another long and boring day of work with Gustavo Rocque... whoopee!_

He quickly rolled over on his bed and hit the snooze button of his alarm clock, which made the beeping stop. He sat up and buried his head with his hand, covering his eyes with the palms of his hands; clearly still half asleep. He just continued to sit on his bed in that same position until the sound of banging on his door startled him.

"Kendall!" He heard his mother yell from the other side of the door. "Get up! You guys have to be at the studio in an hour!" _Gee thanks for reminding me, mom! _Kendall rolled his eyes and pushed his sheets aside, standing up. He heard footsteps in the hall and assumed that his mother was now going to wake up his friends. He walked over to his dresser and took out a pair of dark blue jeans, a short sleeved white T-shirt, and a blue and red long-sleeved button down flannel shirt.

After he finished getting dressed, he opened the door to his bedroom and walked out to the kitchen, where Logan was sitting at the kitchen table with Katie next to him. His mother, who was standing front of the stove, turned around and smiled warmly at her son. "Good morning, sweetheart." She greeted Kendall.

"Morning, mom," replied Kendall as he took a seat next to Katie. He looked around the table and noticed the absence of his other two best friends. "Carlos and James still aren't up by now?" He shook his head. _I guess this shouldn't surprise me, Carlos and James are always the last to get up._

"Nope," replied Mrs. Knight. "The pancakes will be done soon. Kendall, why don't you and Logan go get them up."

Kendall quickly nodded, rising from his seat. He looked over at Logan, who was already up and the two left to go wake up their sleeping friends.

"I'll take James," Kendall told Logan, looking over his shoulder to where his friend stood. "You get Carlos." Logan nodded as the two walked down the empty hallway of their apartment.

Kendall reached James' door, which was on the left side of the hallway, right next to his room. Logan headed for Carlos' room which was opposite James'. Kendall pushed the door open, revealing James still sound asleep on his bed while in an awkward position with his mouth slightly open. Snoring. _Typical James, _Kendall thought, fighting the urge laugh_, he could literally sleep through a storm._

Slowly, Kendall walked up to James' bed and just looked at his friend. _He looks so peaceful, I almost hate to wake him up._ Kendall bent over and slapped James on the chest with the back of his hand. "James, get up."

James' eyes fluttered open and looked up at Kendall, frowning instantly. He rolled over on his side. "Five more minutes..."

Kendall groaned and smacked him once more. _Dang, it's times like this I kind of wish Pokemon were real. I could totally use a Pikachu to give James a rude awakening, like Ash had gotten from his very own Pikachu._ "James, come on. Get up!" Kendall rolled his eyes and shook his head. "We have to be at the studio in less then an hour and breakfast is almost ready."

James let out a yawn, "relax, Kendall." He waved a hand in the air, "I know what I'm doing. Just get lost and let... me... sleep..." His eyes closed and his body went limp. A light snore emitted from his mouth a few seconds later, causing Kendall to roll his eyes.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this..." Kendall muttered underneath his breath as his eyes closed. He took a deep breath before he cupped his hands around his mouth."Whoa! Free hair gel!"

James' eyes instantly snapped open, "where!" He shouted, bolting upright so quickly that he doubled over and fell right out of his bed in the process. Kendall instantly started cracking up at the, laughing so hard that he fell to his knees. _I swear, that trick never gets old; he falls for it every time._

James looked at Kendall and glared at the blonde. "Real funny Kendall!" He exclaimed, "I can't believe I fell for that again." He shook his head and angrily rose to his feet.

"Sorry James," Kendall finally got a hold of himself and stopped laughing. "But you just fell right back asleep after I woke you up before. What was I supposed to do? We have to be at the studio soon and neither you or Carlos were up. Besides, just remember who's dream it was to become a Hollywood pop-star. It wasn't mine."

Kendall's comment cause James to roll his eyes. "Fine!" James argued, "I'm up! I'm up! Are you happy now?"

The blond smirked and nodded but never got the chance to reply because Logan called out both of their names. Kendall turned around and saw Logan standing in the doorway. "What's up, Logan?" Kendall asked. To Kendall's surprise, Logan seemed to be distressed and worried. He looked over at Logan, "where's Carlos?" He asked once he noticed the Hispanic teenager was not with them.

"I don't know," was Logan's reply. He was clearly panicked. "He wasn't in there when I went to wake him up."

Kendall just started at Logan for a few seconds, trying to see if the younger boy was joking. But it was clear from the expression on Logan's face that he was nothing but serious. "Wh-what do you mean he wasn't in there, Logie?"

"It's just like I said, Kendall." It was obvious to tell from Logan's voice that he was worried and angry. "He's not in his bedroom and his room is in the state he left it in before we went to the studio."

Kendall's jaw slightly dropped and he stared at Logan in shock. James was equally as shocked as Kendall was when Logan delivered the news of Carlos not being in his room. Before he knew, he ran past Logan and into Carlos' room, expecting to see the Hispanic teen standing there with a big smile on his face as he went on about he pranked all of them. But when Kendall entered Carlos' room, as Logan said, it was empty. And it was obvious from the state of his bed, that he had not spent the night in there.

The sound of footsteps behind made Kendall pick his head and look over his shoulder to see James and Logan enter. A few moments of silence passed between the three before Logan spoke up. "Guys what are we going to do?"

James folded his arms, his face seeming none too happy. He seemed to have reached his own conclusion as to where Carlos was. "What are we going to do you ask, Logan?" He began in a visibly irritated tone, "Well I'll tell you what _I'm_ going to do: I'll have words with Carlos for spending the night with his girlfriend and not being here_specifically_ when he knew we had to be at the studio early!"

"Come on James," Logan replied sharply, "what kind of way is that to take this? I mean, I can't speak for you, but as a friend, I'm kind of worried something may have happened to him! There could be things more important than being on time, you know."

_Oh no_, Kendall looked at both of his friends to see them staring at each other angrily. _I can sense a fight coming_. "Guys, chi-"

"Well excuse me for being a little realistic and aware, Logan. Come on, you know how Carlos is too!" James angrily shot back, cutting Kendall off as the latter tried to break up the argument that was about to come.

"Wow, James!" Logan yelled back at James. "You're being a real jerk! Tell me, do you even care about him? He's not here and you should know better then anyone not being here is not like him!"

James glared at the Logan. "Oh really? And tell me, how many times have you spent the night in your girlfriends apartment? I know I tend to do the same thing with Annie. But I never do that on a night when I _know_ we have to be at the studio early the next morning!"

Logan was about retort back to James but Kendall beat him to the punch. "Would you guys just chill!" Kendall yelled, holding his arms up in front of the two arguing boys. It was obvious from the tone of his voice that he was angry. He looked over at the two of them and shook his head. "Now is not the time to start a fight."

Both James and Logan closed their mouths and looked at the blond. "Sorry Kendall," they said at the same time.

James had always deeply admired Kendall for his leadership skills. He was always so confident and knew what was up and what to do. With Kendall around, James always felt calm and relaxed. He always kept everything under control and everyone together.

"Guys, the last thing we should do is jump to conclusions," Kendall began, looking at both James and Logan before he gave Logan his full attention. "Logan, I'm gonna have to agree with James. All the signs are pointing to Carlos being with Jess now. You know how often he's spent the night with her. How often have you spent a night with Laura? I tend to do the same thing with Jo and James has also said that he does with Annie."

Logan shrugged, "good point. I-"

Before Logan had the chance to finish, James had cut him off. "Well, I'm gonna go up there and get him and maybe have a few words with him. He should know better." With that, James turned on his heel and walked out of the room, towards the living room. Kendall and Logan both looked at each other before they followed him.

"Unbelievable!" James yelled, which startled Mrs. Knight and caused her to drop the plate she was carrying. "I'm going to kill Carlos!"

"James, what is-"

"Oh you wanna know what's going on, don't you?" James asked. Mrs. Knight was a little offended by the tone of his voice but didn't say anything about it to him. "Apparently, Carlos decided to spend the night with Jess last night! What is he doing? Is he trying to have Gustavo replace us and destroy my dream?"

Before Mrs. Knight had the chance to say anything, James angrily marched right over to the door to the apartment and opened it, which revealed Jessica Edwards, Carlos' girlfriend, on the other side with her hand poised to knock on the door. She seemed to be surprised when James opened the door but nevertheless, she looked up at him angrily. "Where is he?" She asked, shoving James aside to enter the apartment. "Carlos!"

"Well, it's nice to see you too, Jess." James added sarcastically as Kendall and Logan entered the living room. Both of them seemed shocked to see Jessica standing in their apartment. They both had thought that Carlos was with her.

Jessica turned around to look at James, "sorry, James." She apologized before she turned around and continued, "but last night, Carlos and I were supposed to go to that carnival. He was supposed to meet me there and he never showed up!" She yelled before she turned around, expecting to see Carlos standing there but he wasn't. "Carlos! Get out here! You've got some explaining to do!"

James' eyes widened and what ever anger he had feeling just disappeared from those words that left Jessica's mouth. "Wait, Carlos didn't stay with you last night?

Jessica looked up angrily at James. "I wouldn't be here right now if he did, would I?" She snapped. She turned to look at both Kendall and Logan. "Get him out here right now!" She looked at each of Carlos' friends.

"Uhh Jess," James began, unsure of how to tell Jessica that Carlos isn't in the apartment. "Carlos isn't here."

At first, Jessica just stared at James, which seemed to annoy James. "Very funny, James." She seemed to be fully convinced James was joking around and she was not laughing, needless to say. "Don't fuck around with me like that. I'm not laughing. Do yourself a favor and get Carlos out here before I lose my temper."

"I'm not kidding," James began, looking over his shoulder to where Kendall and Logan stood, "Carlos isn't here."

Jessica looked up at James and it was clear from the expression she was not happy. "Do you think this is funny? Huh? Did Carlos put you up to this? Well, I'm not laughing." She looked past James where the hallway was located. "Carlos! Get out here now!"

"Do I look like I'm kidding, Jess?" James asked rather harshly. Jessica was offended by his tone of voice but decided not to say anything. "We woke up this morning and Carlos wasn't in his bedroom."

_He's not kidding!_ Then, realization hit Jessica like a slap to the face. _Carlos really isn't here! S_he looked at James in confusion and disbelief. She turned her head to look at Kendall and Logan, who were looking back to her. _But if Carlos isn't here, then just where is he? _"When... when did you see him last, guys?"

"Yesterday at Rocque Records," Logan said, taking a step forward. "He told us that he was definitely going to the carnival with you."

"What?" The tone of Jessica's voice startled them. She was clearly panicked; she looked like she was on the verge of having a panic attack and she was breathing heavily. "No! He's here! He has to be!" It was clear she refused to believe Carlos wasn't there. "Carlos! Carlos!" With that, she ran forward towards Kendall and Logan but James blocked her path as sobs racked throughout her body.

A pair of strong arms pulled her into an embrace. Jessica tried to resist the contact, beating her hands against James's shoulder. But James only tightened his grip on her and she eventually gives in and accepts the comfort being given to her. She clung tightly to James' shirt as she felt her knees buckled from underneath her and both she and James collapsed to the ground. James whispered soothing things to her, trying to comfort her but that only just made her cry harder.

All Kendall and Logan could do was watch as James tried his best to comfort Carlos' distraught girlfriend. It seemed like James was in a bought with himself to keep his own emotions in check.

But Kendall and Logan knew he didn't want to freak out in front of Jessica because that would just make things worse.

**...**

"_'Cause the world stops when I put my arms around you, around you, oh whoa._"

A couple of hours had passed and now Jessica, along with Kendall, James, Logan, Katie, was sitting on the couch of her boyfriend's apartment. It was quiet. Kendall sat with his mother on his right and his sister on his left. She, with James next to her and Logan next to him, sat across from the Knights. She kept looking at the door, expecting to see Carlos walk through the door any second.

Everyone in the room looked hopefully at Jessica when her phone started to ring. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at the caller ID hopefully. The glow in her eyes faded as soon as she set eyes on the screen, as she curled her lip, muttering, "it's my mom," just loud enough for everyone else to hear. There were exhaled breaths and shoulders slumped in disappointment all round, accompanied by shaking heads. "Great timing for her," Jessica continued, not looking any more pleased herself. But she still did decide to answer the call. "Hello?"

"Hunny, where are you? Why didn't you go to the studio today?" Her mother asked, concerned.

"It's kind of a long story, mom." She began, "and I can't explain right now. I'm kind of busy and I can't really talk right now. I'm sorry, mom. I love you and I'll call you back as soon as I can." She felt bad about making her mother worry but finding her missing boyfriend was the top of her priority list so she had no choice.

She could hear her mother say something else but she paid no mind to it and she just closed her phone and placed it back in her pocket. She picked her head up and looked at Kendall, James, Logan, Katie, and Mrs. Knight. "So, what are we going to do now?"

"Well, we can't report Carlos missing just yet." He said and turned his attention to his mother. "Mom, don't you have to wait twenty four hours before you can report someone missing?"

Mrs. Knight didn't bother to pick her head but she did manage to nod. It was clear to see she was blaming herself. She's Carlos' legal guardian in LA. She was entrusted by Carlos' father to protect him no matter what when they all had moved. If she had kept a better track of the boys, none of this would have happened. If anything happens to that boy, she would never be able forgive herself.

Another thought on her mind is how Officer Garcia would react to the news of his boy, his only child, being missing. Carlos was all his father had left after he lost his wife. Carlos' mother had went into cardiac arrest and died minutes after giving birth to Carlos. Carlos was everything to his father. Mr. Garcia had often told her that everyone has a reason why they get up every morning and live one miserable day after another without having their spouse around and Carlos was that to him. His whole life revolved around making his son happy. He would be devastated to find out his son is missing.

"Guys," James began, breaking the awkward silence in the apartment, "it could be nothing. You know how Carlos is. For all we know, he could have decided to crash at Rocque Records for the night. It wouldn't be the first time any of us," he gestured to his other two friends, "had done something like that."

Kendall looked up at James and smiled. "Yeah, you're right. Maybe it was late but the time he was done having his... fun yesterday so he went to Rocque Records to stay there for the night."

Both Logan and Jessica looked up hopefully. "I'll go call Gustavo and ask if Carlos is there," said Mrs. Knight, reaching for the phone. She stood up and walked towards her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

About five minutes passed for Mrs. Knight came back out with the phone in her hand. The five kids all looked up at her hopefully, "I just spoke with Kelly."

Kendall's face brightened. "And?"

To their horror, Mrs. Knight looked very worried and nervous. "Carlos isn't there. Kelly said she hasn't seen him since Gustavo let you guys go home early yesterday."

When those words left his mothers mouth, Kendall's face paled and he looked like someone had punched him in the stomach.

* * *

**A/N: Well, that's it for now. I had such a tough time writing this, it's not even funny.**

**Carlos: I wanna know what happened to me.**

**Me: In due time, Carlos. In due time.**

**Carlos: Oh man, I wanna know now too.**

**Me: Don't worry, soon you'll find out. I think I'm gonna end the chapter. Review? Please?**


	3. Cryptic Letters

**A/N: Hey guys, Nicole here! **

**I may have forgotten to mention but I was having a hard time thinking of C4 of this story so I went back and edited this chapter. I'm sorry**. **I literally had nothing and I think I may have come up with something but in order to do that, I had to go back and re-write this chapter.**

**Carlos: Writers block eh?**

**Me: Yep**

**James: I really hate writers block **

**Me: Oh, so an author now?**

**James: *thinks* Nope, I'm not**

**Me: So how would you know what writers block is?**

**Me: You've mentioned it before.**

**Carlos: Yeah, you kinda have, Nicole. **

**Me: I have?**

**BTR: Yes, you have.**

**Me: Oh well, onto the chapter. James, will you do the honors?**

**James: You bet I will. Nicole doesn't own either me, Carlos, Kendall, or Logan no matter how much she would like to. And she's not making any profits from this story. **

**Me: Now, on with the chapter. Enjoy...**

* * *

Chapter 3:_  
Cryptic Letters_

_Any second now! _That was the single thought on James' mind as he stared at the door of apartment 2J. _Any second now he's going to walk through that door. _

The brunette felt alone even though he wasn't technically alone. He sat in the living room with Kendall and Logan, Mrs. Knight, Katie, and Jessica. No one made a sound. Everyone sat in silence while staring off into space. He wouldn't tear his eyes away from the door. Part of him expected to see door open and Carlos walk in, wearing that big goofy grin on his face.

Carlos was nowhere to be found. No one had seen him or heard from him and his cell phone was off. Whenever someone would call him, it rang once and then went straight to his voice-mail.

James was worried sick. Carlos is James' best friend; the Latino is practically like a brother to him. He knows Carlos well enough to know that something isn't right. It's not like Carlos to just disappear and not tell anyone where he is or where he was going. It's especially not like him not to have his phone on. Carlos always has it on and its always fully charged. He can't remember the last time he ever got Carlos' voice mail instead of getting in touch with him.

Some things just aren't adding up.

James shook his head. _Watching the door like a hawk isn't going to make Carlos come through that door. _He picked his head up and looked around the apartment. Kendall sat across from with his mother and his sister, both worried sick, on either side. His face was unreadable. He looked next to him where Logan was, his body tucked into a ball with his head resting on his knees as he stared at absolutely nothing.

Jessica, who sat on his left, was by far the worst of all of them. She was completely still and silent. Her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were tear-stained. He heard small sobs coming from her so he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him, letting her cry into his shoulder.

A full minute had passed in silence before Jessica began to speak. "This can't be happening." She said as more tears came to her eyes. "What if he's hurt somewhere?"

"Don't worry, Jess. I'm sure he's fine." James tried to reassure her and everyone else in the room. But no one, including James himself, seemed to believe that.

Another awkward silenced filled the room before Katie spoke. "What are we going to do now, guys?"

"Boys!" Mrs. Knight spoke up. They looked at her, "Go downstairs," she instructed. "Ask around to see if anyone has seen him." She let out a shaky sigh as the three boys obediently did what they were told, standing up and walking towards the door.

Once they entered the hall, Kendall shut the door behind him and turned around to face James and Logan. "So, umm," Logan began, looking from James to Kendall. "I guess we better look for Jo and Camille and Guitar Dude and just about anyone Carlos hangs out with."

"Lets split up," James spoke up.

"Good idea," said Kendall.

James stuck his finger up in the air. "I call the pool and lobby." He said and sprinted down the hallway. He heard Logan place dibs on the park, which left Kendall to search the rest of the Palm Woods. Kendall had also said that they'll meet back in the lobby by the elevators when they're done.

It wasn't long before James reached the elevators. He pushed the button and the doors immediately opened. _Wow, that doesn't happen to often around here,_ he thought, surprised, as he entered the elevator. He pushed the button with a one on it. When the elevator reached the first floor, he walked out and entered the lobby, where he saw Jo sitting with Laura on one the loveseats, talking. He smiled and made his way over to them.

"Hey! Jo! Laura!" He greeted them as he strolled over.

Jo looked and smiled when she saw James coming towards them. "Hey James."

Laura reached over and grabbed her smoothie that was on the table next to her. "What's up?" She asked, taking a quick sip.

James looked at the both of them. Jo had an opened script on her lap and he knew it was for her show. He assumed that Laura was helping her with some of the scenes. But he remembered that he was on a mission to find Carlos. "By any chance have any of you seen Carlos at all today?"

Jo looked him up and down before shaking her head. "Nope. Sorry, James."

"I haven't seen him since the other day," Laura replied.

"Oh," was all James could seem to say.

Laura looked up at him in worry. "Are you okay, James? You look kind of pale?"

"Huh?" James asked before he realized what Laura had just asked him. "I'm fine." James tried to assure them but they didn't seem to believe him. "If you guys happen to see Carlos, can you tell him that we've been looking for him?"

Both Jo and Laura looked up at him and nodded. "Okay." Jo replied.

"Yeah, we will," said Laura.

With that, James left the lobby and went out by the pool, where he saw Camille, Logan's ex-girlfriend, sitting on a pool chair. She held a script in her hand and she was reciting some of the lines. He smiled to himself as he made his way over to her. "Hey, Camille!"

Camille looked up at the sound of her name being called. "Oh, hey James." She replied, putting her script down and she reached over and grabbed the smoothie on the table next to her. "What's up?"

"By any chance," he began, "have you seen Carlos around?"

Camille shook her head. "Not since yesterday," she answered. "I ran into him at the park. I had asked him to help me with my script and he told me he couldn't. He promised he was going to help with my script today though."

"Oh," James automatically said. But when he took a moment to register her words, he just stared at her in confusion. _Camille saw him yesterday?_ He asked himself. "What time was this around when you saw him?"

"Hmm," Camille put a finger on her chin, "must've been around maybe three thirty. He told me he had to go meet up with Jess and then they were going to the carnival."

James' eyes widened. "When you saw him yesterday, how did he seem?" he asked.

"He seemed fine," Camille replied. She was completely confused. "James, is there something going on? Was he supposed to hang out with you or something?"

"Uhh," James looked defeated. He had to think. Camille had seen Carlos the day before. He was on his way to meet up with Jess but never seemed to make it? _What does that mean? Where could he be?_ James asked himself, clutching his head. _Great, now I'm getting a headache. I hate thinking; why does it have to be so hard?_

"James," Camille called out to him.

"Um.."

"James!"

"Sorry I bothered you, Camille," said James. "If you see Carlos, tell him that we've been looking for him. Also tell him that I'm going to kick his ass for scaring the living daylights out of all of us."

Before Camille had the chance to say anything, James walked away, heading towards the lobby. He looked around, hoping that Jo and Laura weren't in the lobby. Luckily, they weren't. He noticed Kendall walking into the Palm Woods. Relief flooded through his system as he made his made towards the Blond.

"Any luck?" James asked as he quickly approached Kendall.

He became nervous when Kendall shook his head. "Nope," Kendall simply said. "What about you? Please tell me you had better luck then I did."

"I asked around," said James. "Jo and Laura hadn't seen him."

James' mood lightened a bit when Logan stumbled into the lobby, face rosy like he had been running and he was clearly out of breath. He made his way over to his friends. "I looked everywhere." He said, which made Kendall and James worry. "I couldn't find him. Please tell me you guys had better luck then I did."

James bit his lip and looked at Kendall. Logan's shoulders slumped in defeat.

_..._

With his head down, James pushed the door of apartment 2J open, where he was met with the sight of Mrs. Knight, Katie, and Jessica gathered around the kitchen table, looking at something. He couldn't quite make what it was though. They all looked up when they heard the door open. But when they saw the boys had returned without Carlos, disappointment clouded their features.

"I'm guess you had no luck finding him, seeing how he isn't here with you guys," Jessica said, looking down.

"I'm sorry, Jess," James apologized even though he knew it wasn't his fault.

"Don't be, James," Jessica said, faking a smile. "It's not your fault."

Kendall took a step forward and looked at his mother and sister. "What's that you guys have been looking at?" He asked and looked at the table, where he saw a tall gold envelope like a business owner would use on top of it. It had writing on it but he couldn't make out what was written.

"Oh this?" Mrs. Knight asked, pointing to the envelope on the table. When Kendall nodded, she picked it up. "This came for the three of you when you were downstairs, looking for Carlos."

She passed the envelope to her son, who turned it over and looked at it. He raised an eyebrow in confusion with what he saw was, "for the eyes of Kendall Knight, James Diamond, and Logan Mitchell only," written on the front, right in the middle. He turned around and looked at his friends, holding the envelope in front of him so they could see.

Kendall opened the envelope and he began going through the contents of the package. He took out a piece of paper, three envelopes which had their names on it, and a picture. The picture was laying face down.

Logan grabbed the picture and turned it over while Kendall and James looked at the envelopes that had their names on it. He stared at the picture before in horror. "Guys..." He said, looking up at Kendall and James

"What's up, Logie?" Kendall asked from next to Logan. He looked over Logan's shoulder at the picture, and his eyes widened in horror.

James also came around and look at the picture, his expression matching Kendall's. Before them was a picture of Carlos laying on his side on a marbled tiled floor. He was dressed like he was the day before. His eyes were clamped shut and he wasn't moving. It wasn't hard to see the Latino was unconscious.

"What is going on, Kendall?" asked James, panicked.

Kendall looked at him. "I really have no idea, James." He replied, picking up the piece of paper and he began to read it. His eyes widened in horror as he started to read it. "Guys..." Kendall said. James and Logan picked their heads up and looked at him.

"What does it say, Kendall?" James asked, curiously. Kendall didn't answer though. He just stared that paper. "Kendall! What does it say?"

Kendall's hands trembled as he began to read what the note said out loud. "It says," he began shakily, "if you want to see Carlos Garcia alive again, you will do exactly as we say."

**...**

The first thing Carlos became aware of when he awoke was the throbbing pain in his head. _Oh, mi dolor de cabeza! ¿Quédiablos? _

His fingers shot up to his head, where he began furiously massaging his temples, gritting his teeth. His head felt as if it were threatening to burst. He was not about to open his eyes yet, that was for sure. But he was aware that he was freezing. Carlos knew he needed to get his bearings. Slowly, he raised his eyelids, but was greeted once more by a spike of throbbing pain. He pressed his temples firmly as he fought to clear his vision, blurred due to his throbbing head.

Once his vision had finally cleared, he was finally able to notice how dark it was; he couldn't see anything. Slowly, he sat up and once his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, he took a good look around the room he found himself. It was a small dark room, much smaller then his bedroom at the Palm Woods. It also had a tiny cot in the corner and no windows. The marble tiles in the floor were cracked and worn with age, and even the walls showed signs of decay, though they stood firm. A steel-reinforced door was the only visible means of entry or exit. And it was rather doubtful as to whether it would just be open, considering the presence of the cot, which Carlos doubted was an ordinary accessory to the room.

_Where the hell am I?_ Carlos wondered. _And why do I have such a pounding headache? _

He stood up and ran towards the door, only to find it was locked when he tried to open it. "What's going on?" He asked no one in particular. He then started to bang on the door. "Hey! What's the big idea! Let me out of here!" He yelled as he kept on banging on the door before him. But the door didn't budge.

Soon after, Carlos stopped banging on the door and back away from it, taking a seat on the small cot. He tucked his body into a tiny ball with his head resting on his knees. _How the heck did I end up here in this tiny room? _Carlos thought to himself as he stared at the door, as if staring at it would open it. But there's no way the door would open. He was locked inside and there was no other way out. _And where am I exactly?_

That was one thing that scared him. He had no idea where he was or how he ended up here, whatever _here_ is. The last thing he remembers is Gustavo letting him and his friends go early after they spent the whole day rehearsing their new song, Paralyzed, which will be on their new album, before everything went blank. Then the next thing he knew, he woke up in this tiny room.

_Think Carlos,_ he told himself, staring out into space. _Think._ _Now, what happened after the guys and I parted ways? _He remembered leaving his friends and heading into the park but that's just about it. Everything else after that was blank.

_Great, just great._ Carlos shook his head. All this thinking was giving him a headache. Carlos was never very bright and he always hated using his brain so much because in the end, he always ended up giving himself a migraine. _Gosh, why does thinking always have to be so hard? _He put his hands up to his head and started rubbing his temple, trying to will away the headache. But it wouldn't go anywhere. In fact, it just seemed to get worse.

He leaned back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. _Guys, please find me._

* * *

**A/N: Well, that's it for this chapter. I'm sorry but I really had to go back and edit this chapter. It was necessary for C4 of this story. As for the translations, here ya go:**

**"Oh, mi dolor de cabeza! ¿Quédiablos?" means "Oh my aching head! What the heck?" in English.**

**Kendall,James,Carlos,&Logan: WOW!**

**Carlos: You gotta tell me! What happens to me? **

**James: Do we find him alive?**

**Kendall&Logan: TELL US!**

**Me: Nope, sorry. Can't do that.**

**Kendall,James,Carlos,&Logan: WHY NOT!**

**Me: I'm not going to spoil the story for the rest of the readers. You're just going to have to wait, like everyone else.**

**Carlos: *pouts* No fair **

**Me: I'm ending this chapter here. Please leave a review and tell me what you think of this story so far.** **See ya everyone**

**Everyone: Later!**


	4. Authors Note

Hey guys! Nicole here! Unfortunately, this isn't an update.

I apologize to everyone who has been waiting for an update but I've been having a lot of trouble with this story and it's even gotten to the point where I have considered re-writing this story over. Yeah, it sucks. I know.

Which brings me up to discuss something that well... needs discussing.

I have a poll up on my profile and I would really appreciate it if you would take the time to vote on it. It would really help me out. I just wanna know if you guys think I should re-write this story over but include another one of the boys being kidnapped along with Carlos. (Carlos is definitely a given for being kidnapped, he's my favorite) If any have any picks on who the other boy should be, please don't hesitate to tell me. I could use all the help I can get.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and please do vote on my poll. It really would be a big help to me.

-Nikki


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